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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Remember that time i asked Shige to tattoo a bunch of flowers on my knee?

Yeah, me neither... perhaps because that never happened?What did happen was that i asked for a piece the same size as my elephant, and someone chose to completely ignore that.

But i'm getting ahead of myself.Yesterday was the day, finally.I hate the days leading up to an important event, because i get to damn nervous, so when we got up Wednesday morning (early) i was relieved and excited.Nervous too, but mostly excited.The trip to Yokohama was the same as always, except this time i was nervous and Allan, who was not getting tattooed for once, was the happiest camper ever!

When we got there Shige told me that he'd made some changes.He was a little cryptic and weird about it, but i was ok, i expected changes.Then he said that he'd made it a little bigger.Ok, i was expecting that too, no biggie.Then he took us into the drawing room to show us the finished drawing, and the finished stencil.It turns out that he'd included all of my ideas and made the most wonderful design i could ever hope for.Only catch; it wasn't a little bigger, it was a whole lot bigger!And not in the way that i'd expected either.He pointed at a large cluster of chrysanthemums and explained that those four huge flowers were going on... my knee.I so did not see that coming.But what are you gonna do?The design was perfect and the stencil was right there, so of course i just said ok.

The session went surprisingly well.I felt like crap the first few hours, but not because of the pain, which i was actually fine with, but because i'd made the mistake of drinking a Coke, like i normally do when i get tattooed.Well, normally i also drink 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day, and i had not thought of the consequences of drinking that much caffeine after a break this long.Worst. Idea. Ever.It felt like taking way too many caffeine pills, and if you've ever tried that, you'll know it ain't fun.Anyway, not a great idea, but i kept my cool and nobody noticed, and after the caffeine left my body i felt pretty good.It's true what Allan always say about traveling to get tattooed, you just sit way better because you have to.

At the station, trying my best to be calm!

At the café buying coffee i saw this sign, pretty funny considering the book i'm reading these days!

I just realized i haven't even told you what i decided on getting!Ok, so among the first of my (many) ideas, was the idea of getting a fox statue sitting in front of a torii, and some flowers of course.I decided against it, because i was afraid the statue would be too cold, but i still kept coming back to the idea.And when the time came to make my final decision, i chose a real fox, since i've wanted a fox tattoo for such a long time too, but sitting like a statue in front of a torii.I asked for some flowers and wind too, and i got it all.

My glorious fox (seriously, that drawing looks more like a backpiece!)

Oh, so many uncomfortable positions...

Taking a much needed breath of fresh air during a break

Headphones and green tea

Not my favorite thing in the world, but it sure looks pretty

Good thing i had Allan there to take some nice pictures!

And, here's what my thigh/knee/leg looks like today.Very red, but not so swollen.And so very pretty.I can't stop looking at my leg today... in fact, i don't think i ever wanna put on pants again!

Because of the changes in size i now have two sessions in November instead of one, and then one or two next spring as well.

Shige wants Allan to put a huge peony on the other knee... it would look nice too...

The flowers almost meet in the ditch, good thing a wasn't planning to get anything there anyway!

So many friggin lines...

So, that's what i did yesterday!What did y'all do?

I might stay home most of the day and blog some more, since i still have a bunch of pictures already resized and ready to be posted, so check back later!

Brilliant! It looks great. Shige did a great job. Alan is right about getting tattooed when you are abroad. You just gotta do it and man up. Props to you lady! I got my thigh tattooed when I was in NY a few years ago and sat for about 6 hours and did the exact same thing you did with caffeine hahaha. It crept up on me and then when I realised what was happening, it was too late!

San Smith, i think we're gonna do it.Now i just want the other knee done too!

JLYoungsma, yes, good and terrifying. But mostly good, of course!

Corey, RIGHT? CAPS MOMENT FOR SURE. PANTS ARE SO OVER, IT'S ALL ABOUT SHORTS FROM NOW ON!!

Betty, yes, you would know!!

clarah, thanks, i'm very happy with the result too!

tarantella, thanks!

shawn hebrank, yep, i sure am!

patolicious, yep, meget kæmpe!Men ellers lige som jeg havde håbet!

Hella J, du havde været stolt, jeg fortrak ikke en mine!

Flo's Diner , ja det er den!

danish ice, haha, why thanks you! It's all about the angle, you know.

Uncle Allan, flotte mand!

christel, man må godt sige tillykke!!

Martin P, ikke så galt som jeg havde frygtet!

Jen, thanks, they're getting along very well!

Mie Harder, yep, det var også hvad jeg sagde da jeg så tegningen!

Lipstickmistress, aw, you're sweet!!

Alex, thank you for that, i'm relieved to know i'm not the only one who pulls dumb stunts like that!Once i realized that i wasn't having a panic attack, but i just had too much Coca Cola, i felt like such an idiot.If it wasn't for that it would have been a prefect session.

ON THE KNEE!! IN THE DITCH!! yikes. You are tough. My thigh tattoo comes like three inches from my knee and I was like "okay, never getting my knees done" hahaha (although I'm sure I will, maybe I'll do it out of town, because like you said, I'd sit better because I had to)

I know you put this up forever ago but in the slim chance you see this, how much in advance did you get an appointment with Shige? How long of a wait was it? Just trying to get an idea I am going to Japan in a year or less and trying to figure out if this will be possible for me or not.

Hi, i'm sorry, but i can't help you with figuring that out. I'd suggest you call Yellow Blaze and ask Shige or Chisato how to best go about it. Or if you happen to have a Japanese speaking friend, have them call for you.

The pictures on this blog are my pictures, taken by me, unless stated otherwise.The text is written by me, unless stated otherwise..If you post something of mine on your own blog please ask first, and make sure you credit me and link to this blog and we're all good. Need to get in touch? Write me at floraamalie@gmail.comThanks for taking the time to read this, i hope you enjoyed visiting my blog!